Such Are The Times With The Sixers

For the Philadelphia 76ers, Sunday's loss in Milwaukee not only ended a season, but perhaps an era as well.

The Sixer era that belonged to Julius Erving, Bobby Jones and perhaps even to Moses Malone and Andrew Toney ended in the Mecca.

Fittingly, it was Erving who missed the wide-open 15-foot jumper that could have extended the Sixer season for at least four more games against the Celtics. The doctor always came through in such situations before, in fact he used to be the man the Sixers wanted to have the ball with the game on line.

On Sunday, Erving was actually the Sixers' third option as they tried to pull out the victory in the final seven seconds.

Such are the changing times with the Sixers and they are bound to change drastically more before the team takes the court for the 1986-87 season in October.

The Sixers of 1985-86 were clearly a team in transition - a team trying to stay competitive, while infusing the roster with younger players. The Sixers succeeded beyond all expectations in that mission.

Injuries to Moses Malone and Andrew Toney sped up the process, allowing Charles Barkley to emerge as a potential superstar in the latter part of the season, while Sedale Threatt and Terry Catledge developed into potential regulars and Greg Stokes showed he could at least be a contributor off the bench.

And more new faces are forthcoming. If you watched the game-show like extravaganza known as the "NBA Draft Lottery" Sunday, you know that the Sixers will have the No.1 selection in next month's draft and another first- round pick as well.

Combine the tremendous young talent the club has with the fact that Maurice Cheeks, Erving, Threatt, and Bob McAdoo are free agents, and the fact that Toney and Sixer management don't get along and that Malone is grumbling about renegotiating his contract and you know that it's going to be active off-season for the Sixer front office.

One thing for certain is that Bobby Jones will not be back. Without fanfare, the always-hustling forward quietly decided to call it quits. His poise and professional attitude will be missed. Erving will undoubtedly be re- signed, but will probably be relegated to a part-time role off the bench next season. Sixer Owner Harold Katz also said the other day that Threatt and Cheeks will be resigned and that he will make a strong effort to pen McAdoo's name to a contract. Katz also said he'd also like to have Malone back, but stopped short of any guarantees.

The success of the team without Malone in the latter part of the season (the club won six of its final seven regular season games after Malone went out with a fractured orbit of the right eye) and in the playoffs did little to aid Malone's cause, particularly since the Sixers' will undoubtedly tap North Carolina big man Brad Daugherty as their No.1 pick.

To stay among the better teams in the league, the Sixers' had better nab Cheeks at any costs. Cheeks is the club's lone veteran who seems to get better with age. Throughout the injuries and new combinations that emerged during the 1985-86 season, Cheeks kept the club together.

And one thing the Sixers should do, too, is make sure they keep Matt Guokas around for some time to come as their head coach. The fact that Guokas was able to win 54 regular season games and get the team to within one shot of the Eastern Conference finals was just phenomenal. Although Atlanta's Mike Fratello is considered a lock for Coach of the Year honors, the Philadelphia media, who saw up close the obstacles that Guokas had to overcome, would vote for Matty.

Still, Guokas was misty-eyed after Sunday's loss. The disappointment of elimination never feels good. But when put into perspective, Guokas, players and fans will realize that the season just completed will probably go down as a stepping-stone from one era to another . . . a stepping stone that was attained without falling into the depths of mediocrity.

So, as Sixer fans now sit back and watch the Celtics and Lakers continue through to the World Championship series showdown that everyone has expected and anxiously anticipated since the opening tip of the season, they can take comfort in knowing that many bright days lie ahead.